Former Bruno business associates take stand in retrial

ALBANY >> Two of former Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno’s business partners gave testimony in the third day of his retrial on Wednesday.

Wayne Barr Jr. began his testimony Tuesday afternoon. Barr is an attorney and business partner of Jared Abbruzzese.

Bruno is accused of receiving payment from Abbruzzese’s companies for doing no work, while steering grant money toward Abbruzzese’s business interests.

Those grants came up in Barr’s testimony today. Prosecutor Elizabeth Coombe presented a press release from Evident Technologies, one of Abbruzzese’s companies for which Barr is still a trustee. Evident received a grant from the state Senate in 2002 for $250,000, and announced at a press conference the total grant would be $1.5 million.

Barr said he was “not privy to what goes on at the Senate,” but knew Bruno was a supporter of Evident and he arraigned for the grant money.

“I assume he had a big influence,” he said.

Judge Gary Sharpe said he considered Barr an “adverse and hostile witness,” and advised Barr to not “editorialize” or add extra information to his answers while under examination by Coombe.

Barr mistakenly labeled the grant “Bruno member item,” in company documents.

When local media reached out to Evident to ask about the grant, Barr told employees “ignore it, It can’t be good” in an email.

He testified he was concerned it would be a distraction for the small company.

Barr also discussed the terms of Bruno’s work agreement. He said during 2004-2005, when Bruno was getting paid by Abbruzzese’s companies Communications Technology Advisors and Capital and Technology Advisors, the companies were paying about eight to 12 independent contractors for consulting services that created their own work schedule and often worked from home or on the phone. They were paid from $8,000 to $40,000 monthly. Bruno earned $20,000 monthly.

Barr said Bruno was different, though, as he was Senate majority leader, and rather than a handshake deal, the company created a work agreement letter. Barr said some of the language in the letter was crafted by an ethics officer, who included a paragraph concerning the public officers law.

Barr’s testimony lasted most of the day. Next, Jerry Bilinski, a local veterinarian who bought two mares and two foals with Bruno and Abbruzzese in 2004, took the stand.

Bilinski said he’d been friends with Bruno since the 1970s. He said he paid half of the $50,000 to buy the horses with Bruno, and Abbruzzese later bought one-sixth of each their shares for $15,000.

Abbruzzese bought a filly born in 2004, named Christy’s Night Out, from Bruno for $80,000 in 2005, an amount Bilinski said he learned from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and was surprised to hear. Bilinski had sold his interest in the filly for $1, and said Abbruzzese was not interested in trying to make money from the filly, which differed from his plans.

Prosecutors contend Abbruzzese bought the “worthless” horse from Bruno in exchange for state grant money awarded to his business interests.

Bilinski said “worthless” was “not a word I would use or agree with.” He said he saw photographs of the horse before seeing it in person, and the tongue was protruding and feet “a little broken up,” but it didn’t have any “important health issues.” He said for the horse to be insured, it had to be examined by a veterinarian. The horse was insured for $10,000, significantly less than the other foals in the partnership, which were insured for $50,000 and $60,000.

Bilinski also said he knew the horse was a favorite of Abbruzzese’s wife, and was named after her best friend.

Bilinski’s testimony concluded at the end of day, and the trial will resume at 10 a.m. today.

Abbruzzese has yet to testify, but was seen at the courthouse at lunchtime Wednesday.